It's been quiet over here, but I have been up to something. In addition to the regular work week responsibilities, I've also been planning the first research trip for my next project. I'm actually in the JFK Airport waiting for a flight to Moscow right now.

The project is not about Russia, but Russia has had an impact on where I'm going. And that's Yerevan. (Flights: SFO=>JFK=>MOSCOW=>YEREVAN)

John Lee, the photographer for the Burma Superstar cookbook,Ara Zada, and Armenian-American chef from Los Angeles, and I are working on a new cookbook about lavash and the dishes you eat with this endlessly versatile flatbread. A meal in Armenia can include everything from herby soups to heaps of greens to skewered meats and vegetables cooked over an open fire. But no matter what's on the table, there's one thing that's always present: lavash. A simple flatbread, stretched and baked quickly, lavash is so important to Armenia that Unesco recognized it as a key component of the country's heritage. Lavash (the book) will come out Fall 2019 with Chronicle Books.

To truly understand lavash, we're heading to the source, Armenia. We also will delve a little deeper to the food and wine traditions of this corner of the Caucasus, a part of the world that has been a crossroads between the East and West for thousands of years.

I'll be writing more about the backstory of how we came to write this book and how we're planning to complete it. But for now, I'll leave it at this : at its core, lavash is a celebration of a simple bread eaten with simple food, which in itself is a true reflection of this resilient, beautiful country. Follow along on instagram feed with the hashtag #lavashthebook